Practice golf club



March 12, 1935. P, AHLES 1,994,207

PRACTICE GOLF CLUB Filed June 5, 1934 Inventor PauZ Ahles Atto'mey Patented Mar. 12, 1935 e 1 9 914 2107 UNITED. STATES smear series 1 v 1,994,201 I i .rnac'rics. Gear cine Pan! Ahles, St. Cloud, Minn. 7 Application June 5, 1934, Serial No. 729,135 4Cl aims. (claws-77), i

This invention-relates to a'uniquegolf club of it is my idea to cut out a portion of the head as the species generally referred toin-the tradeas at 6 to'form what may be designated as a pocket Y a driver, wherein" the same is expressly constructor receptacle for the golf ball 7. Incidentally, ed to perform in the capacity of a practice club. this is merely a practice golfball and, of course,

It is a matter of common knowledge that varirecommended for'use merely as a matter of con 5 ous appliances, accesscriesand contraptions have venience; In other words, it could be any sort been developed with the view toward aiding of a projectile which would' fly out into the air players and students of golf to improve their under centrifugal action as the club head is swung game by the development of a proper golf swing. through-the customary arc. Thepocket'6 there'- The present'invention relates to this general field fore embodies a substantially i'iatbottom 8 and 10 of development and has particular reference to a an upstanding wall 9, the remainder of thepocket club which is somewhat the nature of an inbeing shaped to accommodate the ball. The ball, n ti d b d gn"anfenti're1y new principle under ordinary circumstances, rises slightly above and structure to accomplish thedesired ends. the Crown portion o the ad It might o be Merelyas a matter of convenience, this imstated that the head here is obviously made some- 15 proved practice club is of 1 the dummytype and What larger than theregulationhead but that the possessesconventional shape and proportions, but Club a a W h is-in hl i e flll n includes a peculiarlyeonstru-cted head fashioned Other apb h l i -fi e'a Weighs u to accommodate a standard olf ball permitting stantially thes'aine as the standard :driver. o

the latter to beused as a directional projectile for Various y y utilized T eae biy 20 ball flight indicating purposes. These familiar holding the hall p j 7 in thepeeket with the universally recommended free golf swing In the instant Showing; this mp S -Ied y are conversant with the rudimentary and fundausing What may be designated aisle, latch This mental requirements of the so-called snap-ofis u t y pr p and h ped and p f desired impact atthe time of striking the ball on against the hall 7 to hold it in the the p the tee to promote control of t flight of the The inner end thereof, as at 12, is flexed laterally, ball and to attain other advantages such as disand pivoted a at 1 in a r s 1 h adtance, etc. jacent this pivot there is a stud 15 carried by the i It has been discovered that by adapting the golf latch and a Coiled Spring 16 is attached to thiS 30 club head as hereinafter described and releasably and extends through a bore 17 and iS e t d conecting a golf ball thereto, it is possible to dewith an adjusting bolt 18 and associated nut 19 tect, by the flight of the ball, whether the golf confined in the depression 20. It is obvious that swing is accurate and if and when the so-called this allows Sensitivity of eehtl'el and p p follow through motion, and action is perfected. tensiohihg of the latch to produce the requisite 35 These features and results will becomemore readfrictional retention of the hall Projectile 7 in ily apparent from thesucceeding description and its pocket- 7 the accompanying dr i It is further evident that with this arrangement In the accompanying d i wherein u when the ball is in place and held therein by the 40 numerals are employed to designate like parts hitch 10 and when the club is swung in the usual 40 throughout the same: way at an imaginary tee shot, the centrifugal Figure 1 is a fragmentary l t o u View f a, action developed as the club is swung, will throw golf club constructed in accordance with the printhe hell 7 t from the D ciples of the present inventive conception. With the right kind f tension t d up n Figure 2 is a top plan View with portions broken the bah through the release latch a d W th a 5 away and shown in section to disclose the details delayed Wrist movement, the ball will e p efiectively. jected straight forward in the line of flight, Figure 3 is a perspective view of th b lmwhereas wrist movement applied too early in the tention latch. downward swing of the club will project the In the drawing, the shank of the club head is ball at an angle t t line of intended flight, the 50 denoted by the numeral 4 and the head itself is an e depe p the time a felee 0f the distinguished by the numeral 5. As before stated, wrist action at the Wrong time. To project the in general appearance, these parts are convenball truly in line with the intended line of flight tional. Moreover, the customary handle or shaft it is necessary to apply the wrist snap movement (not shown) is attached to the shank. Basically, at the time the club head passes the point where 55 the-wrist action. This is calculated to give the ably finished as 11 t0 'e-ehferm t0 d. be ras regarded as unnecessary.

the adaption and use of a dummy golf club of the driver type wherein the head is fashioned to serve as a holder for a ball or equivalent projectile, this being releasably held in place and adapted to be thrown out by centrifugal force,

the arrangement being such that the features;

are related to dispose the ball along the so-called face or lay of the club and to have the pocket open at the front and on one end cause the ball to take a flight corresponding to the swing and wrist motion. Thus by constant practice, the user can not only detect errors but can improve the swing by following the direction of flight of the ball.

It is thought that persons skilled in the art to which the invention relates will be able to obtain. a clear understanding of the invention after con--' sidering the description in connectionwith the drawing. Therefore, a more lengthy description is Minor changes in shape, size, and rearrangement of details coming within the field of invention claimed may be resorted to in actual practice, if desired.

I' claim:

1. A golf practice club embodying a head having a ball-receptive pocket, and a spring-pressed latch for holding the ball in said pocket, said pocket being open along the front edge and at one end and otherwise fashioned to accommodate and securely hold the ball therein until it is forcibly flipped from the pocket by centrifugal action during the swinging of the club.

2. A dummy golf club for golf practice work comprising a flexible shaft of conventional length and tapered form, said shaft being fashioned to provide a hand grip at the customary end, and a laterally directedhead attached to the opposite end of said shaft, said head being of customary design in bottom plan view, the top portion of said head being recessed to form a ball holding pocket, said pocket being open along the front edge or face of the head and open at the outer end of said head, a resilient latch pivoted'to the frontal portion of said head and extending across and closing the front portion of said pocket, spring retaining means anchored in said head and attached to the pivoted end of said latch formain taining the latch in a position to resiliently and releasably hold a golf ball in said pocket. 7 I

3. A practice golf club comprising a'flexible tapered shaft of standardized dimension, a head attached to the outer end of the shaft in a conventional manner, said head being of regulation top, front and one end of said head being cut away to define a ball receptive pocket, astandard ugolf ball-located. in said pocket, and resilient frictional retaining means on said head for holding the ball in the pocket, said retaining means and ball possessing an aggregate weight equivalent to that portion of the material removed from the head in forming said pocket, whereby to make: 7

the overall weight of the club, ball and retaining means equivalent to that of an unaltered or cone ventional golf club. a

lgA-dummy driver for golf practice purposes comprising a flexible shaft of conventional shape 7 and proportion, a head of customary design secured to the outer end .of the shaft, said head being fashionedito. accommodateand hold a conventional golf ,ball, resilient trip meanson the head for retaining-the golf ball temporarily in place,- said trip means serving to release the golf 1 ball for flight in a predetermineddirection' and manner, the weight of said head being reduced proportionately to compensate for the addition of the trip means and ball so as to-render the complete assembly usable without materially adding 1, weight beyond that of a conventional unaltered f golf club.

PAUL ,AI-IIQES. 5; 

